March 20, 2010

Categories:

With the pro-Israel group AIPAC gathering in Washington starting tomorrow, AIPAC spokesman Josh Block sends over its lobbying packet of talking points and briefings that its members will take to the Hill.

The group is throwing its weight behind "crippling sanctions" against Iran -- with or without U.N. action -- according to the talking points, and behind a letter from legislators to Secretary of State Clinton calling on the U.S. to climb down from public confrontation with Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Iran "action" items:

• Urge members of the House and Senate to call on their leadership to conclude as soon as possible a conference agreement on the House’s Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act and the Senate’s Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act.
• Urge members of the House and Senate to sign letters to President Obama urging him to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran by imposing immediate and crippling sanctions.

And on Israel:

• Urge members of the House and Senate to sign letters to the administration calling on it to reaffirm the U.S.-Israel relationship and to work closely and privately with our ally.

Those causes do seem to be gathering steam on the Hill. The House Israel letter, which already won support from several prominent House Democrats, now has the signature of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer attached to the concern "that the highly publicized tensions in the relationship will not advance the interests the U.S. and Israel share." Hoyer is circulating it with his Republican opposite number, Eric Cantor, Chairmen Howard Berman and Gary Ackerman, and their ranking Republican counterparts. Barbara Boxer is starting to circulate a similar letter in the Senate with Johnny Isakson.

Share this Article

Reader Comments (10)

Pages

1

>Urge members of the House and Senate to sign letters to the administration calling on it to reaffirm the U.S.-Israel relationship and to work closely and privately with our ally.<
NO, NO! Urge members of the House and Senate to call upon ISRAEL to reaffirm its relationship with the US and to work closely with its primary funder and trading partner and not to further treat the American presidency with contempt. And to adhere to international law in relation to illegal settlements and Jerusalem.

What the AIPAC spokesman forgot to mention is that it is Israel provoking a confrontation by announcing that they plan to build more settlements in a disputed area, thereby stalling the peace talks. If Israel REALLY wants peace, they should reverse their decision. The U.S. is definitely already on board in regards to tougher actions towards Iran, but Israel needs to do its part too.

Posted By: What the AIPAC spokesman forgot to mention is that it is Israel provoking a confrontation by announc | March 20, 2010 at 02:06 PM

'As goes Israel so goes the west'. For Obama to apply untenable pressure on Israel from day 1 of its administration, was a tactical and strategic error. It pushed back the peace process all year. This latest escalation by Obama has pushed it back to where we were 20 years ago, with the Arab world sitting on their hands and thanking Allah five times a day for having delivered their man to the White house.

I agree on Iran sanctions. But the U.S. should get tough with Israel also. I have a major question for those that dispute the power of the Israel lobby? (49%) of U.S. voters think Israel should be required to stop those settlements in occupied territory as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians. Only 22 % think Israel should be allowed to continue settlements. The major argument against the power of the Israel lobby is that elected officials are just representing the opinion of their constituents. Well this is clearly false. Look at the number of elected officials taking the side of Israel. Telling essentially America to tone it down to for a foreign country. I have a hypothesis worth exploring. Is America's steadfast support for Israel because of American popular opinion? Or is American popular opinion formed by those in Congress, the media and the lobby that tell the American people that Israeli and American interest are the same? I would like to see some discussion about this!!

To "climb down the confrontation"??? Israel has disavowed democratic principles; has committed genocide, has leaders who are war criminals; is on its way to becoming a police state; and has publicly humiliated (on more than one occasion) its only ally. If we are to save this alliance, Israel really needs to show some respect. We do so much for their security and for their economy and they thank us by treating us like ****. Venezuela and Cuba are the only other countries in the world to have dared treat us with such disrespect and belittle our leaders.